Please note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small compensation if you choose to purchase any products linked below at no extra charge to you! Click here to view our disclosure policy.
Do you ever get frustrated with the fact your kids only smile for strangers? Do they go absolutely nuts, frown or make silly faces when you say, “Smile for the camera!”?
As a mom, I totally get it. As a photographer, I’ll let you in on my secrets.
There is a reason when you have professional photos done, your photographer can often get great expressions out of your kids… and it’s not just because they’re a stranger your kids are behaving for!
We all have our little tricks we’ve learned over the years to help kids of all ages become engaged in a photoshoot. Try some of the tricks below the next time you’re out and about – or even around the house.
I can guarantee with a little practice, you’ll have the skills to create perfect photos for your scrapbook, and to share on Instagram and Facebook. The pictures may even be cute enough to print and send to grandma!
Let them play
Bring bubbles, a picnic blanket, a favorite wooden toy or even a bike! All of these items encourage kids to play together and often elicit beautiful, natural smiles.
Sing favorite songs
Most people think to take a great photo, you need to all be looking at the camera and smiling. Not true! Some of the best photos are taken while kids are happily singing, or a parent is snuggling a child while singing one of their favorite calming songs.
Get down on their level
It helps to get eye level with your kids, both for composition’s sake and to help kids feel more comfortable. You’ll be amazed at the kinds of photos you’ll snap when eye-level – they’re no longer looking up at you!
Ask them to tell you a joke
This is one of my favorite methods of getting natural smiles from children. They often start smiling from the second they think of their joke and of course, burst into giggles once they hit the punchline.
Does it matter that the joke makes zero sense? Absolutely not! Go along with the hilarity as long as possible to drag those smiles out as long as possible and snap, snap, snap along the way.
Make them laugh
When I’m going in for the typical posed, look-at-the-camera shot, I never ask someone to say cheese. It stretches any smile into an expression that makes people – especially kids! – look like their either stubbed their toe or smelled something awful.
Instead, I find a silly, nonsensical phrase that will catch them off guard and make them laugh. Some of my favorites are “Say chunky chipmunk cheeks!” or asking them who has the smelliest feet or stinkiest toots. Sometimes a little potty humor with young ones goes a long way, especially coming from an adult.
Would you like to see more content about taking photos of your children and family? Let me know in the comment section what you would like to see!
Please note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small compensation if you choose to purchase any products linked below at no extra charge to you! Click here to view our disclosure policy.
Are you becoming increasingly frustrated with your iPhone photos? Feel like you never have candid images that truly represent the essence of your child and other loved ones? I hear ya, mama. Sometimes it is oh, so difficult to capture photos that feel like you could print and frame in your home.
So what’s a mom to do? While iPhones are great for capturing everyday moments on the fly, a more professional camera is a great tool to use for those beautiful prints you’ll save in photo albums and scrapbooks and pass down for generations.
Here I’m breaking down some basics in what to look for when shopping around for your first camera, along with some of my favorite, essential accessories you just have to have to get started.
This is the first in a series of posts focusing on photography for moms (woohoo!). Later posts will feature how to use your camera, how to get real smiles out of your kids, my favorite ways to save and print your photos and so much more.
Best cameras for moms
Without writing an entire eBook or eCourse on how to buy the perfect camera that fits your skills and needs, I’ll break it down simply. There are several options these days for cameras that falls into one of three categories: Mirrorless, point and shoot, and DSLR.
Mirrorless cameras
These are still relatively new on the market, but provide some of the best quality photos due to the technology. You’ll also find mirrorless cameras to be incredibly quiet (no shutter sound!), which is great for babies and when you’re trying to sneak photos of your threenager being super sweet.
Mirrorless cameras come either with a detachable lens or in point and shoot form, which I will detail below.
Another bonus of mirrorless cameras is they are much lighter than other types of cameras, perfect for those of us with arthritis or joint problems!
Point and shoot cameras
Point and shoot cameras are what most of us had in the early to mid-aughts, before cameras on our smartphones became wonderful, high-tech tools to capture images. These are incredibly simple to use, a minimal learning curve (if any), but some of the more advanced cameras offer flexible options like shooting in manual and customizing your settings.
DSLR cameras
DSLR cameras are traditionally are what the pros use, with the exception of growing number of pros who use mirrorless cameras! It’s what you see in your family photographer’s hands, on the sidelines of professional sports, the olympics, news photographers, and so on. They look just like the mirrorless cameras (which also have detachable lenses).
The only difference between the design of a DSLR and mirrorless camera is that the DSLR has a little mirror inside. That’s what you hear when it makes the clicking sound.
DSLR cameras are slowly growing out of favor by some professionals, who are switching to mirrorless.
Which is the best option for you? If you’re just starting out without wanting to venture further into learning how to manually control your camera, go with a point and shoot. These are also ideal for taking anywhere and can fit in a clutch or even your back pocket. My faves are listed below!
If you’re wanting a middle of the road camera you can put on auto and get great photos with the option to expand – more lenses, wanting to customize settings, etc. – go with a DSLR. Check out the best mid-range semi-pro cameras below.
If you love high tech and want the best of the best, whether you want customization options or not, go with mirrorless. Find my favorite mirrorless cameras for beginners and intermediate users with the handy list below.
Best camera accessories for moms
Gone are the days of only having the option of ugly black cameras bags and the camera’s default neck strap. There are thousands of absolutely adorable camera accessories for moms out there that match any style.
Check out my favorite picks for camera straps from Amazon below.
A camera bag is an absolute essential in my opinion. Bags can even do double duty as diaper bags or a few kid essentials. You would never know it was a camera bag, either!
When looking for a camera bag, know that just not any cute bag or backpack or even diaper bag will do. You’re looking for something that is specifically made for cameras so as to keep your camera and if using them, extra lenses, especially safe. Check out my faves below!
Memory cards
My biggest tip when it comes to memory cards is to always have several on hand, no matter where you are. Keep an extra one in your bag or pocket, because you never know when you accidentally run out of room OR the card fails. It happens more often than you would think!
It’s best to have several you are able to rotate through. With some memory cards starting as low as $8, there just isn’t an excuse!
As for how much memory your card should have, you should be just fine with a few 32GB cards. If you’re planning on shooting a lot of video, I would upgrade to the 128GB at least, as video takes up a lot more memory than photos do.
My favorite brands of memory cards are Sandisk and Lexar. I’ve linked a few of my favorites below for easy shopping!
I’ll be adding links to future blog posts on my series on how to get started with photography soon! Once you’re ready to start editing your photos, I recommend downloading Adobe Creative Cloud — especially Lightroom and/or Photoshop!
Please note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small compensation if you choose to purchase any products linked below at no extra charge to you! Click here to view our disclosure policy.
Have you ever wondered how to get that crisp, clear, perfect image on Instagram? How some food photos look good enough to eat, while others look a little… ick?
In this week’s quick tip of the week, I’ll show you how to turn your food photo from “are you sure that’s edible?” to “holy cow, get in my belly now!” in less than five minutes. That’s no joke – it’s THAT easy. Really, the most difficult thing about this tutorial is not eating the cookies before I finished taking photos.
what you’ll need
Here’s what you’ll need to produce a studio-quality image in five minutes flat:
A spot near a window
Daylight (clouds or sunshine work!)
A sheet of white paper
Your object(s)
This little trick is all about lighting. By using daylight near a window and not in direct sunlight, you’ll create the nice, soft shadows. Is it cloudy out? Even better! The after photo in this post was actually taken on a very overcast day. With sunlight, your shadows will be a bit harsher, but cloudy will give you just enough light, unless of course, it’s thunderstorming.
the set up
The set up is so incredibly easy. Grab a spot near a window. Grab a sheet of white paper – even the simple, day-to-day computer paper works. As long as your object is smaller that the paper, you’re golden. Here’s a look at my crazy simple set up. It’s almost funny how simple it is:
I lightly fold the sheet of paper to more easily prop the piece of paper up against an object behind the subject (in this case, cookies). When you shoot, you’ll be eye-level with your subject, which will give the image a nice, seamless background, much like a mini studio photo! There are more advanced ways to set up a lightbox for images like this, but this is the fast and easy, super budget-friendly method.
See the above photo? The colors are off, the shadows are harsh, the background is dark. All-in-all, not a great photo. Do you know why? It was taken with the curtains drawn and flash on. The iPhone’s flash is not your friend in most situations. Turn it off! Always! Okay, almost always. There’s a time and place for everything, but when natural light is available, there’s no need for it.
You can easily toggle your iPhone camera’s flash: When your camera app is open, in the top right corner is a little lighting bolt. Tap it and three options appear: Auto, On and Off. Tap off and you’re good to go.
Here’s the finished product with natural light. Open up that curtain, let the light in. Jump down to eye level and once your camera app is open, tap your subject on the screen to get that beautiful focus. With my final photo, I popped it into one of my favorite mobile apps, VSCO, brightened it up, sharpened just a bit and lightened the shadows. Easy as pie, right? Er, cookies.
Post in the comments your before and after photos using the 5-minute photo fix or tag me on Instagram @brendagdalton. I’d love to see how you use this quick method to improve your photos.
ABOUT
Brenda is a voice of hope and humor for moms dealing with the trials and tribulations of living with chronic illness. As an advocate for those with invisible illnesses, she’s changing the way the world views chronic illness and disability, especially in young women and mothers.
Her goal is to show women they can live a fabulous life they love, even with limitations on health and diet. Her blog focuses on gluten-free entertaining, parenting tips, pregnancy and postpartum guides, shopping, and family travel.
